The Fallen
by Bassoonator
Summary: When Marius is shot at the barricades, Eponine is left to comfort him in his passing, and realise the horrible truth of the tradegy.


**HAPPY VALENTINES DAY FOREVER ALONE PEOPLE/PEOPLE WE DON'T LIKE WHO SHOULDN'T BE ON HERE BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND.**

* * *

Eponine wanted to die with Marius tonight. That's why they were here. He had been tricked into coming to the barricades by Eponine, and Eponine didn't want him to be happy. She wanted him to suffer, without Cosette, without hope, with out love. Like her, as she waited Marius. The problem was she was constantly waiting. Waiting, waiting, _waiting. _So, he should suffer like she did. He should die, just like she did every day inside. Heavy breathing echoed through the dead silent Parisian streets. Eponine was dressed in a trench coat she'd stolen from her mother's wardrobe, a pair of trousers from her father and a faded blouse from the best of her clothes. Her dirty, dark hair was bundled on top of her head, held by a baker's hat she'd found abandoned on the streets one day.

Eponine stared at Marius, who had a conflicted expression on his elegant face. What was going through his mind right now? Had he recognised her voice? Did he see her there, just a few metres away from him? Surely not. His eyes hadn't cast this way in minutes. The tension in the air was high. These soldiers - these students - were still fighting for a new world. Eponine was realistic though - she knew she wouldn't survive this night. None of them would. A guppy would never beat a shark. Eponine's eyes moved towards the bitter sweet stench of alcohol. Grantaire had a bottle to his lips, gulping a large mouthful. His eyes were on another figure. A stubborn and high spirited Enjolras, never more in his climate than right now. A sadness was in Grantaire's eyes. Grantaire's eyes briefly met hers. Recognition flooded on his face - drunken and exhausted, he didn't say anything. Understanding passed between them.

"Courfeyrac, keep watch," Enjolras' lovely tenor voice instructed sharply. Baggy eyed and curly haired, Courfeyrac stood up and went to post. The battle had barely begun and already, the spoiled and barely trained students were feeling the effects after the adrenalin had left their systems. Marius sat beside Eponine suddenly, grunting as he felt the hard ground beneath him. Eponine held her breath. He surely wouldn't recognise her. She exhaled quickly.

"Are you afraid?" Marius asked quietly. Eponine looked up at Marius. Oh, Marius. Eponine's heart tore apart. How could she condemn _him _to death? How could do this to _him?_ The only happiness in her life, and she was trying to kill him. Marius, with the hundreds of freckles. The green eyes, the light brown hair. The laugh that made the angels smile. The personality that made you _want _to know this man. But he didn't even realise she was there - he'd always seen right through her, the young street urchin who would never have a real future. Always doomed to the worse of the worse. She was punishing him for her own faults.

Realising Marius was still waiting for an answer, and to afraid to speak in her high registered voice, Eponine shook her head, heart pounding.

"That makes one of us," Marius laughed hysterically. His fear melted off him like ice in the summer heat. This fear was because of her. _Eponine, what the devil have you done? _"It's not really worth living anyway." Eponine looked up quickly, shock covering her features.

"There's a girl," Marius explained slowly. "I've known her but two days and I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with her." Like paper, her heart ripped a little more. "I can't even explain her. She's every thing I've ever wanted. Do you know what its like to love someone so much that you just want to die without them?" Marius sighed, resting his head on his hands.

"Every day," Eponine muttered. Marius looked up quickly, confusion bluntly written on his face. Still not recognising her, he shrugged and looked back down.

"They're coming!" Courfeyrac's voice carried through the barricade. And suddenly, as if time had been put on fast forward, the real battle began. Soldiers died. Guns shot. Cannons exploded. Eponine held a gun, her finger shaking on the trigger, ready to take somebody else's life, as she would Marius', but she simply couldn't. She had to protect him. Looking up at Marius, she almost smiled. He was fighting hard, without any other thought on his mind. What worried her, was he was unaware of his surroundings, he was only concentrating on one thing at a time.

"Keep safe, Marius," Eponine whispered, before being swung around by a hard grip.

"What are you doing here?!" A slurred and drunken voice shouted in Eponine's face. Holding her breath against the scent of too much alcohol, Eponine pulled out of Grantaire's grasp.

"The same thing you're doing here," Eponine responded quietly.

"I'm here to protect someone I love," Grantaire whispered, almost afraid to admit it. Eponine felt like she'd been stabbed in the back.

"So am-" A gun shot. A cry. A man falling. Eponine turned, and as if the fast forward button had suddenly broken and had been put on slow, Eponine's world fell apart in seconds. Praying to the gods, to _anyone _that would listen, that it was not Marius who sat at the bottom of the barricade, grasping his bleeding chest. Praying that it wasn't him dying. But no God helped Eponine that day.

"Marius!" she cried. No, no, no, no, no. Not Marius. Anyone but Marius. A tired looking Marius looked up, slowly, his eyes flickering.

"'Ponine?" Eponine erupted in emotion. Tears - angry tears. Frustrated tears, heart broken tears, and to come, grieving tears. They all welled up and bundled out.

"Marius, Marius, Marius," she whispered on and on, sitting beside him, holding his shoulder.

"Dear, dear Eponine," Marius murmured, a content smile on his face. "You have no idea what its like to want to die because the person you love isn't for you." Marius laughed, some how different from his last hysterical laugh. This laugh was hollow and sarcastic.

"Oh, but I do," Eponine whispered, tears still falling rapidly. Her hat - long gone as she'd run to Marius' side, left her hair every where, the rain causing it to frizz up and cover her face. She moved the strands, watching Marius' life slip away.

"She was so beautiful, Eponine," Marius cried quietly. "And I couldn't have her. Why couldn't I have her? What have I done to deserve this?" His once white shirt was now a brilliant red, the bleeding continuous and non stopping.

"If I could heal your wounds with words of love," Eponine told the crying man. But he just shook his head and rested on her shoulder, a broken and sleepy soldier. The battle still went on - students still fall to the ground all around them, but Marius. This was _Marius. _The light to her life, the only happiness in an other wise cold, cold world.

"No help do I need, dear Eponine," Marius whispered. Eponine grasped his hands in her own. The hands were too cold for such lovely hands. His face was too sad for such a beautiful face. What had she done? How could Eponine have killed this man? What had she done?

"If you had seen her as I'd seen her, Eponine," Marius whispered, eyes leaking, both with the rain and the tears he cried. Eponine had only seen her brothers cry - such nuicances they were - but never like this. Never a fully grown man, crying like a child who couldn't have the toy in the store. Never like he'd just lost the only thing he loved.

"Marius, Marius, Marius," Eponine cooed, stroking his fingers. Marius smiled, his breathing slowing.

"Tell her I love her, Eponine. Please, won't you tell the lovely Cosette I love her?" Marius asked his final demand. Eponine nodded, a sob exploding from her. "Why do you cry, 'Ponine? We will meet again." Eponine was a strong person - she wasn't dependant on Marius, but losing him was like tearing her apart.

"I want to tell you something, Mosieur Marius," Eponine whispered, her voice low and quiet. Marius blinked slowly, his life fading more and more.

"Yes?" Marius spasmed, his body shaking. He tightened his hands around Eponine's. "Quickly, 'Ponine."

Eponine, stunned, just held onto Marius. No words came to her mouth. Eponine realised she only had precious seconds with Marius and more than ever, she realised what she wanted from him. Just once. Just this one time... Eponine pressed her lips to Marius', letting all those years of longing leaking into this one kiss. Marius kissed her back gently, smiling as they parted.

"Tell her I love her, 'Ponine." Marius left the world of the living, leaving Eponine, grieving and yet gleeful at the same time.

But then, staring down at his body, Eponine realised she was a murderer. Worse than her father. She should live with this guilt - it was ten times as worse as living every day without Marius, knowing she killed him. Eponine's felt Marius lifted from her. She looked up through tear filled eyes at Grantaire, holding her victim, her best friend and the only person she loved in the world.

Eponine pressed her fingers to her lips, still feeling the tingle, and tears continued to fall like a little fall of rain.

* * *

**OOC: So, I was on tumblr, as usual, and found a lovely piece of fan art of some weird couple from some television show. No clue what it is, but it was of a woman comforting a man shot in the chest. The woman was dressed in a green trench coat and I'm like "fuck, that's a good idea.." And then it got really emotional, and I'm kinda a mess right now. So, I hope you enjoyed this anyway. Please review!**


End file.
